DVD / Blu-ray New Releases: December 31, 2013: SWEETWATER, DON JON

January Jones takes a breather from the cold detached Betty Draper of Mad Men to bring mayhem and revenge to Logan and Noah Miller’s Sweetwater (2013).  Jones is Sarah, a former prostitute now married to a Mexican homesteader who is targeted by local cult leader Josiah. After Josiah irrevokably changes her life for the worse in order to get his hands on her land and her body, Sarah embarks on a mission of revenge. With icewater in her veins and a bright purple dress, she teaches the town’s men that a woman is allowed to define her own identity and is not bound by her past or others’ perceptions of her—a lesson taught with a pistol and hot lead. Bonus features include the trailer, trailers for additional films, “’Cold Grey Light of Dawn’ by Hudson Moore,” and a making of featurette.

Love and satisfaction are the overriding motifs in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon (2013). Jon Martello—Don Jon to his friends for his ability to score top knotch lookers on every outing—has a superficial connection with everything in his life: his car, his women, his family, even his church. Sure, he pulls gorgeous women, but his favorite pastime is watching porn alone in his apartment: guaranteed payoff with zero commitment. He decides to make a change in his life and enters into relationships with two different women and learns to make a connection with himself in the process.    Don Jon stars director Gordon-Levitt in the title role and also stars Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, and Glenne Headley. Special features include the theatrical trailer and HitRECord shorts: “My Favorite Things: Request Video,” “My Favorite Things Remix: Film Preservation,” “Love of Objects,” “Vinegar.” Additional Blu-ray exclusives include: “Making of Don Jon,” “Don Jon’s Origin,” “Joe’s Hats,” “Objectified,” and “Themes and Variations.”

 Hilly Kristal’s notorious punk underground club CBGBs gets the rock star treatment in Randall Miller’s CBGB (2013) released by XLrator Media. Miller follows the club from its beginnings as a country bluegrass venue to one of the most celebrated venues for cutting edge and alternative scene musicians. Over the years CBGB has paid host to hundreds of bands and launched the careers of such venerated tastemakers as The Police, Blondie, The Talking Heads, and The Ramones. Starring Alan Rickman, Justin Bartha, Malin Akerman, Freddy Rodriguez, Stana Katic, and Richard de Klerk, CBGB comes as either a single disc DVD or Blu-ray and offers DTS HD Surround Sound.

Other notable releases include:

Last Love (2013)

Solace Kingdom (2013)

Himalaya (1999)

Atilla (2013)

Dragonball Z: Season 1 (2013)

Hell Baby (2013)

Elektra Luxx (2010)

Puccini: Manon Lescaut (2013)

Nightmare City (1980)

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